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Police blame social media for sign thefts
Police say a TikTok challenge may be to blame for a rash of campaign sign thefts.
Orlando, FL(FOX 35 Orlando) - Lake Mary Police investigators say they believe they know why so many Trump campaign signs are being stolen. They blame TikTok.
"You have 6.8 million people viewing a TikTok challenge telling them to commit a crime, that’s a problem."
Officer Zach Hudson blames Tik Tok for the increase in Trump signs being stolen all over Lake Mary and the country. Investigators discovered what was happening after questioning a suspect in a nearby town.
RELATED: Trump campaign signs stolen from different Lake Mary neighborhoods
"That suspect says, she’s been doing this, because of a TikTok challenge to steal Donald Trump signs. And that’s actually what’s going on. They create a video of them taking the signs and sometimes it’s a matter of how many signs they can take, over the course of the night."
Police released a different kind of video this week of a woman stealing signs in The Hills subdivision. Officers aren’t sure if she’s part of the TikTok challenge.
Either way, victim Jim Ginn says it’s disrespectful.
"She just drove up and took them. It made me mad. It made me mad because it’s my property. It's not hers to steal."
Officer Hudson says at least two-dozen Trump signs and a Trump flag have been stolen in Lake Mary.
"The girl we caught on video was a completely different person. There's probably dozens of people doing this in this area."
He’s warning kids not to break the law.
"If you’re doing this, you can spend 6 months in jail. Just because TikTok is suggesting you do this, is not a good idea. It is a crime to take someone else’s property."
Hudson says his agency will be notifying other jurisdictions about the TikTok challenge, in hopes of stopping it.